By HOLLY GASKILL
In its most monthly recent collection, the innkeeper tax brought in $8,054.45.
Of this amount, $7,008.84 was collected from traditional hotels and $1,045.61 were collected from Airbnb rentals.
Implemented in February, the innkeeper tax puts a 5 percent tax on all short-term housing rentals within Wells County. It is collected monthly, due roughly three weeks after the end of each month. The most recent data is from April.
This year, the tax has collected $24,038.93 — roughly 89.1 percent of which has come from hotels and motels, and 10.9 percent of which has come from Airbnb rentals.
These funds are then used toward promoting tourism within the county, with a significant portion supporting the salary of Audry Dudley’s position as Wells County Tourism Coordinator. The Wells County Convention and Visitors Commission oversees and advises these tourism efforts.
The visitors commission was slated to meet Wednesday at 8 a.m. but was unable to have a quorum. Board members Scott Elzey, Brandy Fiechter and Jeff Reed were present; Jon Winne, Steve Higgins, Michelle Blount, Zane Herr and Justin Osborne were absent.
Instead of their scheduled agenda, the present board members discussed Wells County’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for growth and tourism. They began with the SWOT analysis conducted by a Ball State University research group in 2019.
The study outlined Wells County’s strengths primarily in its close-knit small community, quality of life and nearby natural attractions, and its weakness as the available facilities and lack of marketing. Similarly, the county’s threats were listed as its resistance to change and tourism and the “suburban flight” pattern of younger people moving to cities.
However, the board members celebrated that many of the study’s discussed opportunities have been acted upon in recent years. For example, the expansion of trails, new on-trend businesses and an established tourism board.
In their current evaluation, the board discussed the need to clean up the Wabash River, increase wayfinding signs within the area, and better market available local opportunities. They also discussed capitalizing on the tourism the county will see for the solar eclipse on April 8, where Wells County will be in the path of the full eclipse.
holly@news-banner.com
